2024: The Year of the Driverless Car
Waymo is expanding its autonomous taxi fleet that can carry passengers on public roads, no human driver required.
Transportation Policy
Trump Wants To Ease Rules for Self-Driving Cars
Regulations have made these vehicles less safe and more expensive.
Abolish Amtrak
Why should the federal government run a transportation corporation?
Abolish the Department of Transportation
When money comes down from the DOT, it has copious strings attached to it—strings that make infrastructure more expensive and less useful.
Jet Blue and American Airlines Guilty in Antitrust Suit, Despite No Clear Harm to Consumers
The First Circuit's ruling is another blow to the consumer welfare standard.
Can the U.S. Government Tell Chinese People Apart?
Drone maker DJI claims the Pentagon has unfairly smeared it as an arm of the Chinese military based on a mix-up of Chinese names.
SCOTUS Case Involving Cannabis Fraud Highlights the Illogic of Federal Drug Testing Mandates
A trucker lost his job because he tested positive for marijuana after consuming a supposedly THC-free CBD tincture.
Automate the Ports
The dockworkers' strike is over, but America's ports will be some of the least efficient in the world whether they are open or closed.
Drones Face Supreme Court Showdown Over Free Speech Rights
State boards use outdated laws to target content creators, raising urgent questions about free speech in the digital age.
NYPD Opened Fire on a Fare Jumper, Shooting 2 Bystanders and a Cop
Gotham’s police department has a long history of shooting bystanders in "self defense."
Drive-Thrus Are Booming. Why Are Cities Banning Them?
Despite increasing demand, cities across the U.S. are pushing bans on new drive-thru restaurants in the name of reducing traffic and promoting walkability.
California Bill Requires All New Cars To Beep When You Speed
Drivers in the state narrowly avoided an even harsher restriction on their automotive freedom.
Should Airliners Be Forced To Fly Through War Zones?
Rep. Ritchie Torres (D–N.Y.) claims that airlines are engaging in discrimination and enabling price gouging by canceling flights to the Middle East without government permission.
Federal Aviation Administration
How Political Meddling in New York and New Jersey Causes Airline Delays in the Entire U.S.
Congestion and slowdowns in the airspace around New York City account for up to 75 percent of all airline delays, yet efforts to depoliticize its management remain stalled.
California's Unions Lost Their Long Battle Against Uber and Lyft
The state Supreme Court unanimously ruled that ridesharing drivers can be exempted from California's crackdown on independent contracting.
Courts Close the Loophole Letting the Feds Search Your Phone at the Border
Customs and Border Protection insists that it can search electronics without a warrant. A federal judge just said it can't.
It's Time To Reform Environmental Litigation
Thanks to the lengthy approval process and special interests surrounding environmental review, it takes far longer to build anything in the United States than in other developed countries.
New Virginia Law Will Let Anyone Harvest Roadkill Anytime of Year
Previously you had to hit the animal yourself during hunting season to claim the carcass.
Tennessee Law Declares Narcan Recipients 'Under the Influence' for 24 Hours
The Ben Kredich Act, named for a young man killed by an allegedly impaired motorist, overcorrects in response to a tragic incident.
Illinois License Plate Cameras Are Violating People's Constitutional Rights, Says New Suit
The plaintiffs are challenging the state's widespread surveillance, which it collects through over 600 cameras.
California YouTuber Faces 10 Years for Having Too Much Fun With Fireworks
The feds charged Alex Choi with “causing the placement of explosive or incendiary device on an aircraft” after he shot fireworks out of a helicopter into an empty desert.
Police Flew Drones Over One California City Nearly 20,000 Times in 6 Years
A WIRED investigation reveals the extent to which residents of Chula Vista are subjected to surveillance from the sky.
D.C.'s Rules for Subway Ads Are Blocked in Federal Court
The transit authority was sued after rejecting an ad that directed viewers to go to a website "to find out about the faith of our founders."
Viral Story About Bogus Viral Story Was Also Bogus
Corey Harris attracted widespread news coverage—including from Reason—when a video showed him behind the wheel during a court hearing about a suspended license. Except he never had a license at all.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul Kills Congestion Pricing
In a surprise move, the governor axed a plan to start charging drivers $15 tolls to enter lower Manhattan starting at the end of June.
The Viral Story About a Defendant Driving With a Suspended License Was Fake News
Corey Harris' case should never have been a national news story to begin with.
Colorado Will Replace Cops With Drones for Some 911 Calls
While drones are less likely to shoot or maim innocent civilians, they could also pose privacy issues.
AI Warfare Is Boring but Deadly
Bureaucrats in cubicles will kill more people than Terminator robots will.
The Criminal Charges Against Scottie Scheffler Look Highly Questionable
Detective Bryan Gillis alleges the star golfer assaulted him. Footage released today does not help his story.
World War War III May Already Have Started—in the Shadows
Cyber intrusions, arson, bombings, and other mayhem feature in the conflict between West and East.
Congress' FAA Reauthorization Is Good for Remote Towers, Bad for Travel Agents
The legislation is largely a status quo bill that doesn't take up longstanding calls to reform air traffic control, airport funding, and more.
Michigan Supreme Court Allows Evidence Collected by Drone, Without a Warrant
The court declined to address whether the search violated the Fourth Amendment and merely held that the evidence could not be excluded in a civil case.
Trump Promised To 'Drain the Swamp.' He Did the Opposite.
Total spending under Trump nearly doubled. New programs filled Washington with more bureaucrats.
Does Uncle Sam Consider Your Backyard Restricted Airspace?
The areas where you need FAA approval to fly a model plane or drone are surprisingly large.
How California's Ban on Diesel Locomotives Could Have Major National Repercussions
No technology exists today to enable railroads to comply with the state's diktat, which villainizes a mode of transportation that is actually quite energy efficient.
Should It Be Illegal To Fly an RC Plane Within 3 Miles of a Sports Game?
The FAA imposes notoriously wide flight restrictions around stadiums. The consumer drone industry wants to change that.
Congress Does Not Come Back With a Warrant
Plus: A listener asks the editors for examples of tasks the government does well (yikes).
Biden Sends U.S. Forces To Protect Israel's Borders for the First Time Ever
Washington quietly funded Israeli-Iranian proxy wars for years. Now American men and women are directly involved.
Minneapolis Is About To Kill Ride-Sharing
Chasing Seattle's shadow, Minneapolis' new ride-share wage law threatens to derail the gig economy.
Will American Troops Be Sucked Into an Israeli-Iranian War?
President Biden said that we will “do all we can to protect Israel’s security” after Israel killed an Iranian general.
How Obama Gave Trump the 'Military-Age Males' Talking Point
The same tactics used to justify drone strikes are now being used to demonize immigrant men.
Department of Transportation Lacks the Authority to Require States to Set Greenhouse Gas Reduction Targets for Highways
A district court concludes that the Department of Transportation lacks the authority to force states to try and reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with highway use.
